The information you provide in your posts are very educational and insightful.Still working on getting a grasp of that IRR!

As others have said, bogleheads.org is to stock investments what bp is to RE, so you should definitely skip a financial advisor and learn from there, it is really easy once you grasp the fundamentals.Over the next couple years or so, I would like to start diversifying it and reaching a conservative 25% in RE while I learn what's to learn in this craft, and over the next decade moving to a 50/50 split.Planning to go with buy-and-hold strategy.

I'm from the DFW area and my ultimate goal is to invest in multi-family and be financially free :-) I've been researching investing for the past year and feel I have a grasp on the concepts/lingo involved.

I had never planned on investing in real estate as it never really sparked my interest and always felt beyond my grasp of things until my friend Donna talked me into reading Rich Dad Poor Dad...

that helps greatly thank you @Stuart Grazier I'm a bit new to all this so I'm trying to get a good grasp on the things I can do with my self directed IRA.

Though, you should know, I don't imagine you'll learn much from working at an agency as a pencil-pusher apart from picking up on real estate lingo and grasping acronyms that are commonly used, among other negligible stuff like that.

The more deals you look at , you begin to have a better grasp of what looks like a buy.  

Im signed up for several events this month and next to improve my learning so i think in a couple of months i'll have a grasp on what to watch out for and start honing in on my strategy.

You must know the area and have a good grasp as to what is going to sell.

It's a hard concept to grasp without having experience.